


Howl

by Aubrie1234



Category: All Time Low (Band), Bandom, Black Veil Brides, Fall Out Boy, Falling in Reverse, Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Set It Off (Band)
Genre: AU where their families don't exist, Lots of Werewolf lore, M/M, MCR still exists, More characters to be added, Werewolves and Vampires are friends, spn references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-04-18 13:43:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14214387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aubrie1234/pseuds/Aubrie1234
Summary: To be normal for once, they had gone camping. But then things ended badly, because no one could ever get nice things for free, could they? Death, wolves, and the moon invade Gerard's dreams and haunt him like the Paramour Night Terrors while bad things begin to happen like dominoes, but that's just the start of their worries.Friendships will be tested as well, seeing as a huge secret is about to come out and rock everyone's world. And behind the scenes, someone's made a move that tests the foundations of both friendships and a certain society who hasn't changed since it began.Maybe it's time for a little change, and hopefully for the better. Just as long as, you know, no one gets killed in the process.





	1. House of Wolves

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is something I've had an idea of for a while, every since I first entered the Bandom. I'm sure it's going to be either really good or really bad, seeing as I don't know much about the other bands besides MCR, FOB, and P!ATD. I hope that it won't be too bad, but if someone's OOC or I did something wrong, point it out and I'll fix it.
> 
> Now, as stated in the tags, their families don't exist here, even though it's modern times (like 2017 and later). No Bandit and Lyn-Z, No Bronx and Megan, just the bands. There will also be werewolf lore in here, traditional and my own version, as well as vampire and other supernatural lore. There will also be a few references from SPN to add to the lore.
> 
> I have a friend who's helping me out a lot, so I'm very grateful to them for helping me with the other bands.

“You sure this is a good idea?” Frank huffed as he hiked behind Gerard, a bit out of breath.

“We needed to get out and see the world a little.” said the frontman, “Now come on, pick up the pace a little!” Gerard had planned this camping trip a while back and now they were hiking to their camp site on Kittatinny Mountain. The planning went back nearly two months, in fact, and because he had put so much effort into it, the other band members didn't think they could say no. They didn't want to disappoint Gerard after all that he had done to make this possible.

“How high are we going, exactly?” Mikey asked. The line they were in was as follows: Gerard in front, then behind him was Frank, Ray, Mikey, and Bob. The drummer was the most displeased about the trip, but he didn't say anything, not wanting to hurt Gerard's feelings.

“You'll see.” answered the older Way mysteriously.

“I hope it's soon, this pack is killing me.” Frank spoke. Much to his relief, Gerard did stop soon and went off the trail, leading them to a small plateau.

“One of the guides mentioned that this was a good camping spot, so now we're going to spend the next week here relaxing!” Honestly, to the rest of them, Gerard was being _way_ too happy about this (no pun intended).

“The sun's going down really quick up here, isn't it?” Ray had noticed how quickly the sun was moving during the hike.

“It's winter, of course the sun's going down quick. And that reminds me, WHY THE HELL ARE WE ON A CAMPING TRIP IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER?!” Frank's outburst wasn't surprising nor unexpected and it didn't depress Gerard in the slightest.

“Because it's fun! Besides, we'll be asleep in our warm tents all night, it's not gonna be like we're out where the wind can get us.” Gerard put his pack down in the clearing, “Now, who wants to go out and get firewood?”

* * *

“I say we ditch him early in the morning and head back to civilization.”

“Dude, no. I'm not leaving Gee alone out here.”

“You're the only one who thinks that, Mikes.” Frank, Bob, and Mikey were setting camp up as Gerard and Ray went to look for firewood. Both Frank and Bob didn't want to be here and Mikey was trying to convince them otherwise. Mikey was building the temporary fire pit as Bob held up the tent, Frank inside said tent trying to fix it up.

“I still think it's a horrible idea to go camping in the middle of the woods during winter.” Frank spoke, his voice muffled slightly by the tent.

“You and me both.” Bob muttered.

“I know you both hate this, but at least try to think positive. Gerard wanted to bring us out here to have fun, so that's what we're gonna do.” Mikey spoke, “You don't want to hurt his feelings, do you?”

“...No.” the other two admitted.

“But it's still stupid.” Bob added, “We'll freeze to death out here before we do anything 'fun.'”

“Or we could be eaten by a bear or some wolves.” Frank pointed out, “And I think the tent's set! Let go.” Bob did so and though the tent swayed slightly, it was steady. Frank then crawled out and the two go ready to set up the second one. Each of them had their own tent, so there were four to go.

“I don't think so. Gee wouldn't have picked this place if he didn't think it was safe.” Mikey said, “Besides, bears hibernate this time of year, you know that. We'll still have to put our food up, though, just in case some other animals want to get into it.”

“Well, my food takes top priority.” Frank said, “There's a lot of things I can't eat, so if we lose my food, we'll have no choice but to go back.” Something occurred to the guitarist and drummer, where they then shared smiles.

“Don't you dare.” Mikey warned, having seen it, “Don't sabotage the trip for Gerard! He put a lot of work into this and if something goes wrong, he'll be devastated. You both know that!” Bob and Frank made no comment, but Mikey knew that the thought was still on their minds. He just hoped that they wouldn't try anything too soon.

* * *

After they had eaten and told ghost stories (which was mainly Gerard), they all went to sleep. Because it was colder at night, some of them slept with their jackets on, trying to keep warm. The fire was low, still burning slightly and confined to the makeshift pit. But they weren't alone in the woods. Golden eyes shone out of the darkness towards the MCR camp and sharp teeth glinted in a smile.

“I hope you like the mess I'm about to make, Ravager.” said a voice in a whisper, wisps of visible warm air coming from his mouth because of the cold, “But I don't think you'll last long enough to see who did it.” Then there was some rustling and a golden-eyed wolf stepped out of the shadows. It was larger than a normal wolf and would have probably been the height of 6 ft. if it stood on its hind legs. It crept closer, panting and shaking itself slightly in the cold, until you could see its dark brown fur reflected in the light of the small, barely burning fire. The wolf scraped some dirt into the pit, extinguishing the fire and plunging everything into darkness except for the half-filled moon above.

Its ears perked as it heard some movement from one of the tents and it froze. It was from one of the smaller tents, but it soon quieted. The wolf was curious and peeked inside, sighting all the dark color the man was wearing. He nearly blended in with the ground but the wolf could still pick him out. The smell of markers and hair-dye was strong in here, almost overwhelming, but it signified who it was.

_Now, to make it look like an animal attack..._

* * *

Gerard was no a light sleeper, but when he turned over and felt his hand hit something solid, he startled awake and opened his eyes. It was just in time to see darkness outside his tent before it began tearing apart. Sharp teeth ripped easily through the fabric and came down on his left shoulder as claws toppled the flimsy supports. Gerard opened his mouth to scream in fear and pain, but one of the paws of the attacking creature landed on his face, right over his mouth and muffling his cries. It was padded, like a paw, but seemed to be as big as a bear's, which shouldn't be possible this time of year, and there were no wolf packs in the area-

Gerard cried out again as the teeth pulled away and took flesh with it. He fought back, punching at the creature and scrambled out of the tent. His shoulder hurt like hell, even though he had been wearing a jacket to sleep, which should have made the bite not too deep. He stared in terror at the larger-than-life wolf that shook its head after his counterattack and snarled. It also seemed the fight was finally waking up the rest of MCR, but Gerard couldn't let the wolf hurt them too. It was only through luck that it decided to attack him first and that he hadn't died on the first blow. He had to do something, to lure it away or drive it off somehow.

_I can't let Mikey and the others get hurt!_ Gerard thought and grit his teeth as the wolf focused on him, growling. Glancing around, Gerard saw the rocks around the fire pit and got an idea. He crouched and quickly grabbed some of the rocks. Before the wolf could pounce, Gerard threw said rocks at the wolf. They hit and the creature yelped in pain, shaking its head before running away. Gerard panted, blinking in surprise how easy it was to drive a lone wolf away. He was probably lucky...

“What the hell-?” questioned Frank, coming out from his tent. Mikey and Ray had flashlights, which they turned on and looked around.

“How did you guys just sleep through a wolf attack?” Gerard questioned back, putting a hand on the throbbing wound.

“What?!” Mikey worriedly came over and his flashlight lit up Gerard, including his injured shoulder, “Damn, that looks horrible!”

“You should feel it.” Gerard said, “Looks like we're not going to be staying after all.” The singer sounded disappointed despite the injury.

“Let's try and patch it up.” Ray suggested, “Take your jacket and shirt off, Gee, so we can clean it.” Gerard nodded, but when he tried to do so, any movement sent a flash of pain behind his eyes and he hissed.

“Fuck, it hurts too much. You guys might have to peel it off for me.” he said, then muttered quietly, “Good thing these aren't the skeleton PJs...”

“Easy.” Bob cautioned as he helped Gerard sit down and Frank lit the fire again. The two felt awful for thinking about sabotaging the trip because of the attack, but considered hiding the food and forcing them all to go back to civilization may have been better than this fate.

* * *

Time seemed to bass by in a blur for Gerard. They had gone down the mountain as quickly as they could when morning hit and his shoulder was still killing him, despite all that his friends had done, and they got him to the closest hospital. His jacket had protected him from the worst of it, but the bite wound was still kind of deep and needed bandages and stitching. A fever had also hit him the morning after the attack, so he was forced to stay at the hospital just in case the wound had gotten infected, which was very likely. So here he was, lying on a bed only in his pants with a sling on his arm and painkillers in his system. He had been taking them as pills with his food, as his friends knew how much he detested needles, and for that he was grateful.

“Hey.” Gerard turned his head to look towards the door, finding his brother standing there. Everyone was allowed in, but they didn't want to crowd him, so the MCR guys took turned checking in on their singer.

“Yeah?” Gerard could see the phone in Mikey's hand. A headache began creeping up, causing him to close his eyes.

“You won't believe who wants to talk to you.” said Mikey softly.

“Who is it?”

“Patrick.” This caused Gerard to open his eyes. The only person from Fall Out Boy who really wanted to talk to anyone was Pete and that was usually only to Mikey. MCR and FOB were friends because of the two, so everyone in the bands knew each other, but they didn't interact as much as Pete and Mikey did.

“Really? What's he want?” Mikey shrugged.

“Don't know. Really wants to talk to you, though. Said it was important. You up to it?”

“Yeah, hand it over.” Gerard held out his free hand. Mikey walked over and gave him the phone, where he put it to his ear, “Hello, Patrick?”

“Hey, Gerard.” the FOB singer spoke, “I heard about the attack from Pete. How are you doing?”

“Mm, not too well. What's with the call?”

“Just wanted to know more about the wolf. It was really big, right? Bigger than normal?” Gerard raised an eyebrow at the questions.

“Yeah, with bright yellow eyes and dark fur.”

“Anything strange about it?”

“Except the size? Well...” Gerard thought back, “There was something about its paws. They didn't feel like a wolf's all that much, more like a bear's. And the eyes-” Gerard shook his head, “It's probably just me, but I thought I saw something other than an animal in those eyes.”

“Sounds spooky.” Patrick said, “I'm glad that you're okay, though. Stay safe.”

“You too.” Gerard spoke back before hanging up.

“Sounded like he was asking about the wolf.” Mikey said as he took the phone back.

“He was. I don't know why, though.”

“Well, it can't get you here, alright?” Mikey pat Gerard's bare shoulder, the unhurt one, “I'm going out. See you soon.”

“You too.” Gerard watched as Mikey left the room before closing his eyes, hoping to take a nap to get his mind off of things.

* * *

Patrick stared at his phone with a tight feeling in his chest. He knew what had happened, he was sure of it. If so, then all of MCR was now in danger. They'd also have to be informed of what was going on, and it seemed like Patrick was going to have to be the one to do it, which meant his friends would find out, too. Patrick knew they wouldn't like how he kept such a secret from them for so long, but he thought they would understand. They were his friends, he had been working with them for over a decade now (not including hiatus), they'd support him. And if not... he didn't want to think about that.

“You okay?” Patrick looked up to see Pete standing in front of him. The bassist took a sat beside him and spoke, “Finished talking with Gerard?”

“Yeah.” Patrick nodded, “I hope he'll be okay. MCR's not on tour, but without him, it won't be the same.”

“It's just his shoulder, I'm sure he'll be fine.” Pete assured him. He had done the same to Mikey earlier when the other bassist had called, wanting reassurance after the attack. Patrick knew it wasn't the case but said nothing about it.

“Do you think we could visit them soon? We're not on tour either and I just want to make sure they're okay...” Pete raised an eyebrow.

“Sure, we can do that, but why? I can understand the worry, but-”

“Trust me on this one, Pete.” interrupted Patrick, “We need to go see them soon.” Pete stared at his friend, wondering what it was about the attack that was making Patrick anxious, but said nothing. He trusted Patrick and if the singer wanted to go see MCR for some reason, then they would do it. Pete only wondered if he found find out what it was that made Patrick want to visit the other band. They talked a little more before Pete's phone rang and he had to take a call, leaving Patrick alone again. The younger man waited a few moments to make sure Pete was out of sight before he moved to the bathroom to make his own call, a secret one.

“Hey, it's me.” Patrick spoke, “We've got a big problem, a _wolf_ problem. Come to Colesville, NJ, so I can get you. Bring Cody if you can, because I think someone's trying to call you out.” The person on the other side of the line responded before the call ended and Patrick dialed another number.

“Ryan, it's Patrick. If you get any calls, don't let them through to You-Know-Who. I get the feeling the attack on Gerard isn't any regular animal attack. ...Thanks. See you.” Patrick hung up and gave a sigh. It was going to be tough as things progressed, but hopefully things wouldn't be too bad. But the feeling Patrick was getting said otherwise.

“Hey, Pat? You in there?” Patrick's eyes flicked to the door as Pete knocked, his eyes flashing gold for a second in surprise.

“Don't call me Pat.” was his response. Pete chuckled.

“Well, just making sure you were okay. Don't take too long.” Patrick listen and waited as Pete left before he exited the bathroom, making sure his eyes were still their wonderful blue color before he left the bathroom.

“You're going to hate me when you learn the truth.” Patrick to himself muttered under his breath, “But it's got to be done. We're all in danger now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Kittatinny Mountain and Colesville are real places in NJ that I used.
> 
> 2\. Frank is allergic to various foods (I think), which is why he's a vegetarian.


	2. A Hole Where Something Was

Days passed and soon enough Gerard was allowed to leave the hospital, but told to keep his arm in a sling until he was sure his shoulder was healed. And when he returned to the MCR bus, he was surprised to find not only his band waiting for him, but Fall Out Boy as well. They all gave him gentle hugs, mindful of his arm, and he hugged back with a surprised smile. The last to hug him was Patrick, and something felt different, even smelled different, if that was possible. He suddenly felt like he was threatened while he hugged Patrick and felt like he wanted to growl, but Gerard pressed down the urge. What was wrong with him? Patrick didn't mean any harm and he knew it, so what was with the strange feeling?

“Really? You guys didn't have to come check on me.” Gerard joked as he pulled away from the other singer, “Let me guess, is Panic! around somewhere, too?”

“No, it's just us.” Joe assured, “How are you feeling?”

“Better.” Gerard rolled his hurt shoulder and winced, “Still hurts a bit, but not as bad as before. In a way, when it happened, it felt like-” Gerard glanced to his bandmates before he continued, his voice toned down into somberness, “It felt like Tokyo concentrated all in one spot.”

“You didn't say it was _that_ bad.” Ray spoke, frowning with the rest of the band.

“Let's not think about it.” Patrick spoke up, “So, what are you guys going to do now that you're out of the hospital, Gerard?” The MCR singer shrugged, wincing at the movement.

“We're not really sure. We'd planned to stay on that camping trip for a while, and now that that's ruined, we don't really have any plans.”

“We could hang out.” suggested Pete.

“It'd be nice.” Frank agreed. There were noises and nods of agreement from the rest of the two bands, so it looked like they would be spending time together. Patrick gave an internal sigh of relief at this, as it would make his job easier.

“So, wanna head over to a hotel to relax?”

“Sure, beats sleeping in our buses all the time.” The bands separated to head to their own buses after discussing which hotel they would stay at together, as well as who they would stay with. There was an odd number, so they would have to have 4 rooms, where one room would have three people together. And, because the two bands were going to be staying together, they decided to mix their usual rooming plans up a little.

* * *

Gerard had already brought up one of his bags to the room he would be sharing with Mikey and Patrick and was now sitting on a bed, looking out the window into the night. Nearly a week had passed since the attack and most of it had been spent in the hospital with his wound, but that wasn't on his mind at the moment. He gazed at the nearly-full moon with wonder, feeling a sort-of tug to it, almost like it was calling him for some reason.

“There!” Mikey huffed, dropping the last of Gerard's and his stuff onto the floor. He had agreed to carry some of his brother's stuff, but he hadn't realized how heavy it would be. The small commotion snapped Gerard out of his thoughts, causing him to turn to Mikey and Patrick. The FOB singer had noticed the older Way's fixation on the moon and frowned, knowing that he didn't have much time to explain before things went south. He only had a day left, he couldn't waste it.

“So, what do you wanna do for the rest of the night?” Mikey continued.

“Sleeping sounds nice.” Gerard muttered, yawning. Patrick sat on his bed while the younger Way helped his brother get undressed and ready for bed, wondering how to talk to Gerard about what was going to happen. It was going to get out eventually, too, so Patrick knew he had to tell Mikey as much as he had to tell Gerard. Though he kept his head turned away, he sometimes glanced at the two brothers and soon got an idea.

“Think you can sleep like this?” Mikey questioned after Gerard was dressed for bed. He wouldn't have his sling on while he slept, but Mikey was still worried about how much Gerard was hurting. The bandages seemed to taunt him, as if telling him nothing was going to be okay.

“I did it in the hospital, I can do it here.” Gerard assured him, giving a tired smile, “'Night.”

“'Night.” Mikey smiled back before moving to sit on Patrick's bed and letting his brother have some room. He knew that his worry was causing him to crowd his big brother, but he didn't think he could help it. After all, he had done the same thing before, when Gerard had fallen into bad times. Gerard had also done the same for him endlessly, ever since he was born, and Mikey didn't know if he would ever be able to make up the debt he owed to Gerard.

“Mikey?” The bassist was brought out of his thoughts with Patrick's voice.

“Yeah?” The younger man seemed nervous for some reason, but also calm at the same time.

“There's something important I need to tell you.”

“Just me?”

“Not just you.” Patrick shook his head, “But this needs to be kept a secret. It involves Gerard.” That got Mikey's attention.

“What is it?” he asked, “Does it have to do with the wolf attack?”

“In a way.” Patrick nodded, “Just promise me you won't tell anyone about this because _I_ have to be the one to tell them.”

“What about Gerard? You said this involves him, does he have to know?”

“Yeah, but we can tell him in the morning. He needs the rest.” Patrick gave the sleeping singer a glance, “You're all in danger right now, and I don't mean the normal kind of danger, like from poison or fans. You're in a kind of supernatural danger.”

“Supernatural? Like, werewolves and vampires?” Patrick gave a sly, toothy grin, his canines seeming to be bigger than usual.

“Sort of. You're right on the werewolf part, at least.” Mikey crossed his arms.

“No offense to you, but I find this hard to believe. And how do you even know all this?”

“It's a long story.” Patrick looked to Gerard again, “The wolf that attacked him, it wasn't a normal wolf. It was a werewolf.” Mikey dropped his arms.

“So, he's cursed?” The younger Way knew the stories about werewolves and he didn't like the thought that his brother could now be one of them, “And there's nothing you can do?”

“Nothing except to make things more comfortable for him.” Patrick turned back, “Tomorrow is the first night of the full moon and it's always hell that first night. You have to help me keep Gerard contained every night until the full moon ends, otherwise he could hurt someone.”

“What about you?” Mikey thought he had put the pieces together, “Aren't you a werewolf, too?” Patrick nodded.

“But I'm not cursed like Gerard. I was born this way, so I have more control over this that he does. That's why I have to be the one to help him, I know how to deal with another wolf.”

“Then what's my job? Keep the guys away the whole night? If they aren't told, bad things could happen. The last time Gerard ever stayed out into the morning was when he was in a bad way, when he was on the drugs and the drinking. If they guys don't learn the truth, they could think that's what's happening and they could go after him.”

“I know, that's why I want to tell them.” Patrick said, “But if I can't, I want you to at least tell them a little about this. If they go looking for Gerard, they could get hurt. He's going to be out of control and I'm going to need to focus on keeping him from escaping, I can't be a protector. You may not have noticed, but earlier, when I hugged him, he got angry, and that's not his fault. Werewolves are territorial, especially turned ones, so he's going to be pissed at me when he turns.”

“He'll be pissed at you anyway.” Mikey pointed out, “And he'll be mad at himself. No matter how this goes down, it's not gonna be good.”

“That's why I need your help in another way.” Patrick said, then gave a long sigh, “I know you've heard the legends and stories, but I think there's a chance he may not hurt you. I don't want to chance it, but if push comes to shove, I want you to help me with him. You know him better than most anyone and if he gets angry enough he starts to change, then someone needs to be there to calm him down. I can't do that, only you can, and you're one of the few that can help him when he's human. I have no idea what to do when he gets panicked, but you do, so you'll be my guide as much as you are my helper.”

“So...” Mikey wasn't sure if he wanted to continue the conversation, but did so anyway, “Do you know anyone else that are werewolves?” Patrick gave a soft snort.

“Do I _know_ anyone? Mikey, there's a _whole society_ out there.”

“Then why haven't I heard anything about it?”

“You don't know werewolves exist, so how would you know?” Patrick shook his head, “Anyway, there's this huge system for our society that makes everything work. There's also vampires and their society isn't as complicated, since they don't have a pack mindset.”

“How many supernaturals are out there?”

“Lots, but it's mainly werewolves and vampires.”

“So, how are the societies structured?”

“The vampires' aren't all that different from the American political system, democracy and elections and all that, with the exception of having special access to blood banks anywhere in the world, but werewolves are different. We try to keep ourselves more of a secret, so there are separate branches of us. A branch in music, a branch in politics, a branch in NASA...” Patrick shrugged, “If something exists, there's a werewolf branch for it. In turn, each branch is headed by the Supreme Alpha and they meet every-so-often to discuss what's going on and they act as a council to all other werewolves. Most live alone from other werewolves, but for those of us involved with the Council and the Supreme Alpha of our profession, there's a chain of power. In fact, I'm Second-in-Command of the Music branch.” Mikey gave a soft, low whistle.

“Wow. But why are they called the 'Supreme' Alpha? Why not just Alpha?” With how much thought going into the explanation, Mikey was pretty sure Patrick was telling the truth. He couldn't have made this story up without a lot of thought and Mikey didn't see why Patrick would have made up such a story at a time like this.

“Because all werewolves are their own alphas.” Patrick held up a hand and Mikey could see black claws glinting in the dim light of the room. Yep, definitely telling the truth, “Like I said before, most live away from other werewolves, being territorial and all. But we still have a pack mindset, so we tend to adopt our friends as our pack, whether they be human or vampire. Because none of them are werewolves, that makes me the alpha. That's why there are 'Alphas' and 'Supreme Alphas.'”

“And how do Pete, Andy, and Joe not know about this? Don't you have to change into your wolf form a few times a month? How did you keep it a secret?”

“Yeah, I have to so that the wolf stays happy, and when the time comes, it's usually not too bad.” Patrick looked to him and smiled, pulling his lips back to show sharp teeth as his eyes changed from blue to yellow quickly. Mikey grew nervous, unsure of what Patrick was doing, “Being born a werewolf, I don't have to change during the full moon. I have to change at least three nights a month to keep my wolf happy, so I try to do it when we have a hotel night or I'm able to sneak out.” Patrick suddenly frowned, “You don't mind sharing a bed with a wolf, do you?”

“N-no, as long as I don't get hurt.”

“Don't worry, the wolf won't do that. He's a lot kinder and smarter than you'd think he'd be.” Patrick stood up, “I'm heading to the bathroom to change. Good night.”

“Good night...” Mikey muttered as he watched the younger singer leave the room before turning his gaze onto Gerard. The elder Way was still dead asleep, snoring softly as his body barely moved with his breathing. All in one night, everything had changed and Hell was waiting. What would happen after everyone was told the truth? How would Gerard, let alone the rest of the band, be able to move on with their lives? How would it affect Fall Out Boy, knowing that their singer had been a werewolf all this time? And what else was out there besides the things Patrick had told him?

Mikey was taken out of his thoughts when the bathroom door opened and a large creature stepped out. It was a wolf with big muscles and torn shorts that stood on two feet. It had to be about 6 ft., a little more or less, and it threw some clothes on to the floor at the foot of the bed with its front paws. It had bright yellow eyes and fur the same color of Patrick's hair, a sandy blond color that wouldn't stick out at all on a beach. It then curled itself on top of the clothes and closed its eyes, trying to go to sleep, and Mikey knew he had to do that same, so he crawled into the unoccupied bed and laid down.

Thing was, with a werewolf in the room and his brother's condition on his mind, sleep did not come quickly to Michael James Way.

* * *

When he woke up, Mikey found himself to be in the room with his brother and a now human Patrick, who was talking with Gerard. Said brother looked stonefaced, and Mikey knew that was a bad sign. Gerard always expressed his emotions, it was hard for him not to, so the way Gerard wasn't reacting to what Patrick was explaining set Mikey on edge.

“...so that's what we're doing.” Patrick showed Gerard his sharp black claws, “I told you, I'm not lying about this. Tonight is the first night, so I need to keep you safe.”

“...Why don't you just kill me?” Gerard asked quietly, “It'd be a lot easier.”

“No way.” Something had flickered in Patrick's eyes right before he answered, but no one caught it, “You're my friend, I can teach you how to work with your wolf. Once you and your wolf are on the same page, you won't have to be so afraid.”

“But won't it be out-of-control? How am I supposed to be normal again when I could kill someone one night and the next day not remember a thing?!” Gerard's voice had raised at the end and his eyes flashed to a golden color, similar to Patrick's. The golden eyes glared at him as a growl rose in Gerard's throat. Mikey knew things were getting worse, so he decided to do his job and help Patrick keep Gee calm.

“Dude, it's okay.” Gerard whipped around to look at Mikey and the younger brother could see that there seemed to be no more pain, since Gerard was moving his hurt arm. Either that or the pain didn't matter anymore, “Patrick told me everything last night. You could hurt some people, but he wants to help you. Let him do his fucking job, will you? Maybe it won't be so bad, maybe you won't be the monster you think you are.”

“Yeah right.” Gerard snapped, then smelled something in the air. It was a mixture of aggression and fear, each coming from a different man in the room. It was mostly aggression, which was coming from him and, surprisingly, Patrick. The fear was coming from his little brother, who, despite his poker face, definitely smelled like he feared him. That was like a punch to the gut when he realized it, that he was scaring his own little brother.

“Gerard.” The older singer turned to look at a glaring Patrick, who now had golden eyes. Gerard could see the anger hidden behind them and the wisdom. Patrick knew what he was doing, Gerard knew he had to trust him, but new instincts were swarming at him, telling him he couldn't, that Patrick was trying to take everything away, and it felt like he was being dragged back to 2004 again. Patrick continued, “Don't make me do this. Just calm down and listen, will you? It's not as bad as it seems, I promise. I asked some other werewolves to come here and help me, so you're not going to hurt anyone. We're going to help you, and that's that.”

“Then why do I feel otherwise?” Gerard growled back. He wanted to accept Patrick's offer, but the werewolf was making it harder than it should be.

“Because of the wolf. It's new and doesn't trust anything. It's territorial, so it thinks I'm the enemy. Things will change, though, and the wolf will mellow down once you both get adjusted to each other.” Patrick's claws and eyes went away to be replaced by the regular eyes and nails of a man who felt guilty about hurting any animal, too sweet for the world but held a darkness inside of him only few had seen, “Things will change for the better if you trust me, Gerard. It'll be better for everyone if you do.” The aggression was gone from Patrick, but Gerard could still smell his brother's fear. Mikey was afraid of him in this state. Gerard wouldn't be able to stand that if it kept going, so he allowed himself to calm down before he nodded, his eyes now back to hazel. If gaining control meant he wouldn't scare Mikey anymore, then that was what he wanted, what he _needed_.

“Alright. What do we do first?”

“Can't do much except to pick up the other wolves and find a place for you to stay. 4:00 PM is the deadline, we have to find that place before then or things aren't going to go too well.”

“That early?” Gerard asked, worried, “I know it's winter, but the sun doesn't go down until around 5:00 right now.”

“I know, and you won't change until the moon comes up, but it's better to be prepared than to have nothing at all. Also helps set up a tight schedule that can change when Spring and Summer come.” Patrick held out a hand, “Are you with me?” Gerard nodded and took the hand with his uninjured one, where Patrick helped him to his feet. There was no more fear from Mikey as he joined them and Gerard finally had a spark of hope after Patrick had explained things to him. Maybe, just maybe, he didn't have to be so scared. Maybe there was a way to live with this, even if he had to be stuck as a werewolf for the rest of his life. Especially with having to adjust to increased senses and a niggling presence in his mind that he now knew had to be his own wolf, who didn't seem to be too happy being so close to Patrick.

_If this is gonna be my new normal, it's gonna be Hell. No doubt about that._

* * *

After they all got dressed for the day, Patrick left the brothers alone so he could pick up the other wolves. Mikey and Gerard were curious with whom he had called, but he didn't tell them a thing, saying the people were a surprise. As it was, the two were having breakfast in a nearby cafe, just watching the street as they had their coffee and such.

“So,” Mikey began softly, “how much has changed?”

“Well, everything's brighter,” Gerard listed, “I can hear better, smell better, and that's about it. I think I might also be stronger and faster, but we'd have to test that out when we're not in danger of me.”

“Right. Well, what do you smell?” Gerard paused to sniff the air before answering.

“Our coffees—I got a caffè macchiato, you got an expresso—the smell of various coffees from inside the cafe, the other coffees around us, bacon, eggs, toast, orange juice, milk, chocolate,” the list was making Gerard's mouth water, even though he had just eaten, “the exhaust of cars, the metal that makes them up, the sidewalk, the asphalt, the rubber tires, leather, cloth, brick, shoe polish, the wood of the chairs, the plastic of the tables...” Gerard shook his head, “You have no idea how overwhelming this all is. I didn't notice any of this until this morning and I don't know why I wouldn't have noticed until now.”

“Maybe it has something to do with the cycle of the moon in relation to the wolf.” Mikey suggested, “And is that all you can smell?”

“No, but I'm not sure what I'm smelling.” Gerard sniffed the air again, “All over the place, there are combinations of scents coming from everyone, I guess like a unique scent? It's really weird.”

“Then what about me? What do I smell like?” Gerard snorted.

“Dude, that question sounds _so_ weird.”

“Just answer it, dumbass.”

“You smell like old books, sulfur, and a strange smell I don't really know. I guess it's a brotherly smell? I don't know, but it feels familiar. And if you're wondering what I smell like, it's Markers and Hair-dye.”

“I can understand the old books and the brother smell, but what about the sulfur? Why sulfur?”

“Maybe, and this is a big maybe, because of the ghosts.” Mikey froze.

“You mean-?”

“The Paramour?” Gerard gave an uneasy nod, “I've heard that some types of supernatural are associated with a sulfur smell, so that's the only thing I could think of.”

“Fuck.” Mikey sighed, running a hand through his hair. Gerard moved his hand to cover one of Mikey's in reassurance.

“It's only a smell. We're not going back there ever again, don't think about it.”

“I know, but to think that smell might stick with me for the rest of my life...” Mikey shook his head.

“Well, why don't we head back to the hotel and play a guessing game?” Gerard smiled, “How about I try to figure out who smells like what out of our friends? That'll be fun, wouldn't it?” Mikey tried not to, but he felt a small smile come to his face.

“Alright.” The two paid for their breakfast before heading back, but didn't notice they were being watched. From afar a picture was snapped and on the camera's digital screen appeared the two Ways, walking down the street together. A grin came to the capturer, who lowered the camera to look at his targets. Things were going along nicely so far, just a few more pictures and everything would be in place.

* * *

“Thanks for coming so quickly.” Patrick said as the two other singers got into the car he had rented. Cody Carson nodded while Ronnie Radke stayed quiet and Patrick understood the silence.

“It's not like we weren't gonna come anyway.” Cody said, “Word's spread fast through the Music branch, but so far it hasn't spread beyond that. We're lucky the rest of the Council hasn't heard of what happened yet.”

“Which is why I need some advice: what can we do? I mean, I promised to help Gerard get control over this, but you know our rules.” Patrick said, “Things are grim for everyone.”

“Any idea who the attacker was?” asked Cody.

“Nope, but it's definitely a werewolf. Golden eyes, dark fur, huge size was the best description I could get out of Gerard. That's practically nothing at all.”

“Did you go up to the site and check for clues?”

“Yep, but there was nothing. If there was, it might have been destroyed by animals or when MCR packed up to return to civilization.” Patrick glanced in the rear-view mirror, “Like I said on the phone, I think this guy might be calling you out. I mean, he or she could have attacked anyone, but they attacked Gerard Way, the guy who helped you get started in your first band and the guy who's become an inspiration for many people, both as fans and in their own bands. And they didn't attack anyone else in the band, even though they could have. They could have mauled the entire band, but they only turned one person. This is a challenge, so are you gonna answer it?”

“I can't answer it if I don't know who I'm fighting.” answered Ronnie at last, “And for right now, let's just try to help him. I know the policy in a case like this, but this is kind of personal, like you pointed out. I can't just make a normal decision for this.”

“But we've still gotta kill whoever turned Gerard, don't we?” Cody asked. Ronnie nodded.

“Of course, after what they did.” Ronnie's eyes flashed red briefly and Patrick almost felt sorry for the wolf who started this whole mess. After all, he had been on the other end of Ravager's bite a few times and it was never pleasant. He hoped this ended soon so that they could help Gerard, because the eldest singer was in the most danger out of anyone.

And Patrick also wondered how the two had managed to leave their bands for this and how long the singers had said they would be away for. With how big of a mess this was, they could be away for month, more or less. So, the FOB singer's question was, if the bands didn't leave them alone for that long, where were Set It Off and Falling in Reverse?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this seems rushed and not as good as my other stories, but I hope you guys like it. Any questions or things I need to fix, point them out so I can tell you or so I can fix them. See you soon in the next chapter, and I hope everyone is in character!
> 
> EDIT: A reviewer just pointed out that it was set in winter, which I completely forgot about. I've fixed it now, so hopefully the flow isn't disrupted.


	3. We're Only Good 'Cause You Can Have Almost Famous Friends

Gerard smelled them before he saw them. There was the combination of metal and coffee, cupcakes and leather, plants and adrenaline, and Gerard smiled.

“Bob, Ray, and Frank, in that order.” he guessed. Mikey raised an eyebrow and both shot up in surprise when their friends came around the corner, in the order Gerard had described.

“Okay, that was a good guess.” Mikey muttered.

“You know that wasn't much of a guess.” Gerard muttered back as their friends reached them, “I killed it.”

“Feeling better?” asked Frank, all of them noticing how Gerard held himself more comfortably than yesterday.

“Yeah.” Gerard rolled his shoulder, “I think we can take the sling off, as well as the bandages. It doesn't hurt any more.”

“Sure, and afterwords, why don't we go out and have some fun?” Bob said, “Y'know, to make up for the camping trip?” Even though he hadn't wanted to be on the trip, the guilt he and Frank had for thinking of leaving Gerard for civilization was still heavy in their hearts.

“Maybe not today.” Mikey said, “We've got something we need to tell you guys in private.” Even though Patrick had said he wanted to be the one to explain things to everyone, Mikey thought it would be a better idea to share it with the band and lot let them figure it out for themselves. The rest of the band looked confused but nodded.

“Alright.” As they began heading to an elevator, Gerard caught another group of scents heading near them and he turned his head to see Andy (ink and plants), Joe (smoke and a sanitary smell, like the kind you would smell in a hospital), and Pete (medicine and a mixture smell, which smelled both of a felt or cloth hat and Patrick).

“Hey, where are you guys going?” asked Pete, catching up to them, “Going back to bed already?”

“No, we just need to talk in our room for a while.” Gerard said.

“Have you seen Patrick, then?” Joe wondered, “I mean, you _did_ see him leave, didn't you?”

“Yeah, he went out for a while. I'm sure he's fine.” Mikey assured them. He wondered if they should also include Fall Out Boy in the talk, but thought it might be better to let Patrick explain. It was his band, after all, so he had more of a right to explain than Mikey or Gerard did. The Ways were already pushing things by planning to explain the truth to their friends without Patrick's permission, Mikey didn't want to make things worse.

“Alright.” Andy gave a nod, “See you later, then.” MCR waved goodbye as they headed up to the Ways' and Patrick's shared room and FOB wondered what was going on.

“So, what do you guys wanna do until they come back?” Pete asked, “It's too cold to do much outside stuff, so no paintball or sports.”

“Wanna practice some songs?” Joe suggested.

“We kind of do that a lot already, we need something relaxing.” Andy looked out the door of the hotel and spotted someone, “Wait, isn't that Patrick?” The other two looked as well to see Patrick walking down the street with Cody and Ronnie by his side, talking.

“I didn't think he knew them, let alone enough to be friends.” Joe noted, “And where are their bands?”

“Instead of questioning things and getting no answers, let's go ask them.” Pete spoke and led the way out of the hotel and straight to his friend. Patrick noticed as they came over and smiled.

“Hey guys.” he greeted, “This is Ronnie and Cody.”

“We know. It's not like you guys are _famous_ or anything.” Pete joked as they all shook hands.

“What are you doing here?” Andy asked, curious, “And where are your bands?”

“They're getting themselves set up in a hotel nearby.” Cody answered, “And when we heard Patrick was in town, we came to visit.”

“So, how do you know each other?” Joe wondered.

“I met Ronnie in 2004 and Cody in 2008, when their bands were getting off the ground.” Patrick said, “We kinda really hit it off when we first met and we've kept in touch since.”

“Then why have we never heard of this?” Pete crossed his arms, “I mean, friends should know the friends of their friends, right?”

“Well, now you do, don't you?” Ronnie put in, “Also heard MCR was in town. Do you know where they are?” FOB shared a glance except for Patrick. He waited until they looked to him before he gave them a nod.

“Yeah, they're in the hotel behind us.” Andy said slowly, “Why do you want to know?”

“Guys, could I talk to you for a sec?” Patrick interrupted, “In private?”

“But-” Patrick silenced their opposition with a small glare. He grabbed Joe's and Pete's arms before dragging them off towards the parking garage part of the hotel, forcing Andy to follow. Cody gave a snicker while Ronnie shook his head.

“I feel sorry for what they're about to hear.” said the SIO singer, “But they had to learn eventually. So do our friends, when we get back. Maxx and the others are gonna be pissed at me...”

“You think you have it bad? The Council is gonna have my hide if they find out I'm letting our secret slip, not to mention my band if I stay here too long. They're gonna rip me a new one, whether I'm a werewolf or not...” Cody gave another chuckle, then straightened up.

“Well, we need to get going. Gerard needs us and I'm pretty sure he's telling his band about everything right now.”

“I'll go do that. You should find a place where he can be safe for the next few nights.” Ronnie suggested, “We have no knowledge of this place and the full moon is tonight, so start looking.” Cody nodded.

“Good luck.” he said, then turned and began jogging away. Ronnie glanced briefly at the retreating man before focusing on the hotel and crossing the street. As he opened the door, he wondered how he was to go about this. In most cases he had to be the bringer of bad news and did a lot worse things than this, so why was this making him nervous? Was it because he knew Gerard to an extent, even though they weren't friends? After all, the older man had helped him start his first band, so Ronnie guessed he owed the MCR singer something. And, so far, he was doing that by making sure Gerard didn't put himself or anyone else in danger. Ronnie mulled over this as he rode the elevator to the third floor, where Patrick had said their rooms were. He had also been given a list of room numbers if he had to ever know who's room was which. And, just as he stepped out of the elevator, he heard the door down the hall open slightly.

“...and Patrick said he was going to get the other wolves.” came Mikey's voice.

“As hard it is to believe, I can't say that this is crazy.” Gerard said, “Especially when hard evidence in the form of claws is shoved in your face.”

“Are you sure we can't do anything?” Frank asked, a sad note in his voice.

“Not now,but things might change. I'm glad you guys seem to understand this whole thing, because I have no fucking idea what to do.”

“But that's why Patrick came, isn't it?” Ray added, “He wants to help you with this. That's why the other guys are coming.”

“I guess...” MCR finally exited the room only to find themselves face-to-face with Ronnie. He had crossed the hall while they talked and tried not to smile, as he knew it would spook them even more. He liked scaring people, but this wasn't the time, especially not around a volatile werewolf.

“What are you doing here?” Bob asked after they recovered from their surprise. Gerard didn't say anything but could feel a presence in the air telling him that this was no time to pick a fight and what Ronnie said goes. It was a strange feeling, so he connected it to the wolf, and so far it had submitted to no one, so his best guess was that the wolf could sense something about Ronnie he couldn't. Gerard followed that sense and hoped nothing bad would happen, staying still and quiet as he tried not to make himself noticeable.

“Patrick called me here to help.” And those six words suddenly turned everything around.

“You're another wolf, then?” Ray asked.

“Not just _a_ wolf, I'm _the_ wolf.” Ronnie said and frowned, “And you've got yourself in some deep shit now, Gerard. Deeper than you realize, really.”

“I'm not sure I really want to know how fucked up I am right now.” admitted the elder singer, “But my band knows, so they can help, right?”

“Sure, just as long as you _follow the rules_.” he stressed this not just with words but a glare as well, “Someone could die or worse if something goes wrong and I don't want this mess to get any worse than it already is.”

“You make it sound like it's my fault...”

“It's not, but I just want everyone to be safe. Got it?” There were mutters of agreement from the others, “Good. Let's head downstairs and meet up with Patrick.” He took the lead back to the elevator, but from a distance away, another picture had been taken and looked at. The taker smiled before disappearing off the roof, where they had taken the photo through the window that was at the end of the hallway.

* * *

Cody was back and with Fall Out Boy when Ronnie and My Chemical Romance came into the lobby. The other band looked a bit like MCR had when they learned the truth: a bit betrayed but supportive, except the betrayal was much more prominent on FOB. After all, their singer had been keeping this secret for _years_ while Gerard and Mikey had just learned the truth last night and that morning. And from the way Patrick looked, saddened with a glance to his band every so often, it seemed he knew that he would have to do a lot to get their trust back.

“Found a place nearby, an abandoned warehouse.” Cody said, “Think that could work?”

“Possibly. Find any other places?” Ronnie asked.

“Not really, but it's near some other warehouses, so if something happens, we'll be in a man-made maze.”

“Good.” he nodded and turned to the bands, “Any other questions? We've got some time.” The rest shook their heads, even though a few had questions clearly on their faces, especially FOB, but if they didn't want to ask, Ronnie was fine with that. But Patrick was probably going to have to complete some Herculean Trials if he wanted to win back his bandmates' trust, and Ronnie certainly wasn't going to get involved. FOB was Patrick's pack, so as the Alpha, he would be the one that had to deal with it, no outside help.

“If there's no more questions,” he turned back to Cody, “let's set up the place for tonight. Patrick, you can stay behind if you want.” The younger singer looked like he want to join them, but shook his head. He was going to deal with his responsibility and wasn't going to procrastinate. Ronnie nodded and he and Cody left, leaving Patrick to deal with the fallout.

“So...” Gerard began, crossing his arms, “Is he the Supreme Alpha?”

“Yeah.” Patrick nodded.

“Thought so. The wolf sensed it before I did and didn't want me to pick a fight. It's not like I would...”

“Anything _else_ we should know?” Pete asked, and though his voice was steady and calm, there was a bitter tone to it.

“Not unless you want to ask.”

“Why didn't you tell us?” Joe said.

“Because I couldn't.”

“You said that before. Elaborate.” Andy said.

“It's a law. No one outside of the society is supposed to know.” Patrick closed his eyes, “Not even best friends can know.”

“Then why now? Is it just because of what happened to Gerard or is it something else?” Pete asked, “And what happens if you break that law?”

“What happened to Gerard... I hate to say it, but what happened gave me a chance to tell you guys the truth, since I knew it might get out. I've always wanted to tell you, but I was always afraid of what you would think. As for the law, I might have just sentenced myself to death.” Things grew quiet at that.

“...Why would you say that about a stupid law?” asked Mikey, “It's not that bad, is it?”

“It pretty much is.” Patrick said, “If we spread the word that werewolves exist, about our society, the penalty is death most of the time. Even though I have some power in the Music branch, that means nothing if I broke one of our laws.” He tried to smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, “Werewolf society is like the Middle Ages in modern day. You don't follow the rules, it's off with your head or something like that.”

“Then what about turned wolves? Is there anything about that?”

“No.” Patrick shook his head, “Nothing about it, unfortunately. But it's not like you're the first turned werewolf, Gerard. We're trying to deal with this the best we can.” MCR accepted the answer, but FOB did not. They knew Patrick better than anyone, they had seen the look in his eyes before he closed them and shook his head, heard the slight hesitation in his voice. There was something he was hiding about the answer, but there had to be a reason why he wasn't telling the truth. After all, he was pretty much put on Death Row for telling them about werewolves, so maybe they could give him the benefit of the doubt this time, even though they knew he was lying. There was a reason, and they wanted to repair their trust just as much as Patrick did, so maybe they should trust the unknown reason why the entire answer was kept a secret.

 _Patrick will tell us eventually._ Pete thought to himself, _Won't he?_

* * *

“Ready for tonight?”

“As much as I can be when I don't know what I'm fucking doing.”

“Just follow my lead, okay?” Gerard growled a little but nodded. He and Patrick were inside the warehouse Cody found with the two wolves would be outside, on guard for anything that would happen. It was a little past 4 and the sun was starting to set, slanting through the dusty windows at an angle. Patrick was dressed in torn shorts and a t-shirt that looked like it had gone through Hell and back with how much it was ripped and shredded and Gerard was dressed the same, though his clothes weren't ripped. Patrick had cautioned him to wear clothes he didn't like or didn't care if they were destroyed because that was what happened when you transformed into a werewolf and didn't expect it. You would lose your favorite clothes.

“I lost a good David Bowie shirt when I was younger and I transformed.” Patrick had said, “You don't wanna lose your American Idiots shirt or something, do you?” Gerard had conceded to that and was now shivering in the thin clothes.

“Are you s-sure we c-can't wear a-anything else?” Gerard asked through chattering teeth. Patrick didn't seem affected by the cold as much as the MCR singer as he shook his head.

“No, but our fur will warm us up when we change. Here, catch.” Patrick threw him a blanket, “So we don't freeze to death before we go into wolf form, you know?”

“F-Fuck you.” was Gerard's response as he curled up in the blanket on the cold ground.

“Try to get some sleep at least. When the wolf comes out, you won't be able to rest, even though you won't be in control.”

“Oh g-great...”

* * *

_He was running with the moon above him, through tight spaces and around sharp corners. He was on four legs, chasing something down, his hunger shouting at him, making him fierce and out-of-control. His golden eyes were wide and wild as he came around another corner into a dead end and found his prey trapped. He ran forward and leapt, bringing down the human and tearing him to pieces, biting and claws flesh from bone and snapping up the meat, finally sating his hunger. When there was nothing left but a skeleton, he licked his bloodied muzzle and groomed his paws, licking off the blood from them as well. It was sweet and tasty, making him hungry for another meal. But, as he began to walk away, he saw something glinting in the moonlight off to the side, barely getting into the alley._

_It was a pair of glasses, glasses he_ knew _. And he knew who they once belonged to._

* * *

Gerard gave a shout and bolted up, fear filling his body as the dream played over and over on repeat in his head.

“Nononono...” he whimpered, thoughts flying a mile a minute as the consequences hit him hard.

“Gerard?” He turned to see Patrick near him, crouched over him with a worried look, and noticed his surroundings. It was daytime and his outfit was torn like he had just gotten in a fight with a wolverine, but it didn't matter to him.

“It Mikey okay? Where is he?!”

“He's fine, we didn't leave the warehouse at all.” Patrick said, “Though you did put up a good fight and attack me a few times.” Patrick winced as he turned his head, knowing he was going to be sore for a while after getting that beating. He had won each time, but only barely. Patrick's wolf may have been more experienced, but Gerard's wolf made up for it in strength. Boy, could he rip someone's throat out...

“T-then it was just a dream.” Gerard sagged with relief, “Just a fucking dream. Thank God.”

“What was it?” Patrick was curious, “Usually when you have a dream, it's actually what happens to your wolf form.”

“I...I chased someone down and ate them before I saw the glasses.” Gerard shivered, “But if we didn't leave the warehouse, why did I have that dream?”

“I don't know.” Patrick helped him to his feet, “Let's change and head out. Maybe Ronnie or Cody have an idea why.”

“Can we see the other guys, too? I need to see Mikey, make sure he's okay.”

“That's fine. Just get dressed before you freeze, okay?” Patrick handed Gerard a change of clothes, including a jacket, but something bugged him, something he couldn't get out of his head about the dream Gerard had.

_I think I know, but it'd be bad if it's true. Let's hope it's not who I think it is..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. The title of the chapter is a line from the FOB song Out Lawyers Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued.
> 
> 2\. Each person has a certain smell that relates to them in some way, and I've been bouncing ideas off of a friend of mine to help out with that.
> 
> I hope this chapter isn't as bad as it seems to me. You'll get to meet their wolf-sides later in the story, and if I made a mistake, such as spelling, OOCness, or messed up on the continuity, tell me and I'll fix it.
> 
> The Devil's Got Your Number Tonight is on the back burner right now, but hopefully I'll return to it soon as I work more on Howl. Both of these stories are vying for my attention and I hope they don't fall into disrepair like some of the ones on FanFiction.net, where I started. I tend to start a story and put it on hiatus because I go on to another story idea and it becomes a vicious cycle. I hope not to start it again here.


	4. Dancing with a Wolf

“Could be a premonition.”

“Not likely, you know that. What if the wolf was trying to scare him so that they couldn't work together?”

“No, I don't think that's it. His wolf was pretty territorial, but not malicious. I thought about it a bit, and I think it might be the vampires.”

“Great. If they're involved, this makes things all the more harder!” Ronnie threw his hands into the air, feeling frustrated. They were resting back at the abandoned warehouse, discussing last night's events, mainly Gerard's strange dream.

“Well, aren't _you_ supposed to be the mature one.” Cody mocked, feeling about as frustrated.

“Both of you, knock it off.” Patrick warned sternly, “Gerard is back with the guys and he's going to stay with them until tonight. That gives us time to figure out what is going on here. Whoever's doing this transformed Gerard for a reason, probably to call you out, Ronnie. And, if the strange dream is related to the attack, then the one that's behind this also has the help of the vampires. But what we don't know is _why_ this is happening.”

“Well, you were around Gerard more than us yesterday. Did you smell a vampire around?” Cody asked.

“Plenty, but I have no idea if Gerard met the one yesterday or days before. It's likely yesterday, since he didn't have these dreams before last night.”

“Damn vampires and their hypnosis...” Ronnie rubbed a hand across his face, feeling older than he really was, “But who would want to do this? What do they have to gain from this whole thing?”

“The death of an influential singer, our demises if the Council finds out what we're doing,” Cody listed the consequences on his fingers, “and if the vampires are working with this guy, then Werewolf-Vampire relations are going to take a serious strain from this.” he gave a sigh, “Whoever's made this mess has plenty of reasons to do it, but this still doesn't tell us the motivation behind it. Which reason are they using? Or are they using one we haven't thought of yet?”

“Well...” Patrick grimaced, “It could be a crazy guy who's doing this for no reason at all other than to mess with us. Or it could be a werewolf who's tasted human. You know how crazy that makes a wolf.”

“But that usually deals with hunger, not a mental state. Though I can't say that wouldn't be possible, it's just not likely.” Ronnie said, “But best to keep all our options open until we figure out the culprit, right?” The other wolves nodded in agreement. Suddenly, the quiet was split as a phone began to ring, which was Ronnie's. He looked at it, then glanced up to Patrick.

“I thought you said Ryan was taking my calls.”

“All the political ones, yeah. So I guess that's-?”

“Yep.” Ronnie answered and put the phone on speaker so that the others could hear, “Hello?”

“Ronnie, I know your note said you were gonna be away for a while,” Derek's voice came over the line, sounding angry, “but where the hell are you?”

“Did something happen?”

“Oh, _something happened_ alright. Jacky was attacked and now he's taking shelter with us. Christian and Ryan are here too, and all the attackers apparently mentioned you. Dallon's here as well, having been with Ryan during the attack.” Ronnie's blood ran cold as he heard this.

“Are they okay?”

“Just a few scrapes and bruises, and except for that, they're fine. But they're all real spooked over this, that's for sure.”

“Okay, look, go to Colesville, NJ and I'll meet you guys there. A lot's going on that I can't explain on the phone, but keep an eye on each other.”

“So, you know what's happening?”

“I do, and it's really dangerous. Just watch each other, okay?”

“Will do. And when I see you again, I'll make sure to give you a black eye for this.” Derek hung up and Ronnie ran his hands through his hair, feeling frantic.

“Fuck fuck fuck...” he said, panicked, “They're not just targeting bands close to us, they're also attacking people _in_ our bands!”

“I'll get my band to come over, probably ATL, too.” Cody said, a worried note in his voice, “What about your old band, ETF?”

“I wasn't all that close to them, so hopefully they won't be attacked.” Ronnie glanced to his phone, “But if they are... Damn it, I need to warn Ortiz.” As they made their calls, Patrick was both glad and worried his band was already here. But it made him wonder if they were falling into a trap, because it seemed someone wanted all of them to be together in one place.

* * *

“It's both a good and bad thing that the tour is over now.” Alex sighed, flopping onto his bunk as his bandmates went to their own ones. They had just finished up in Taipei, Taiwan and were now on their bus, ready to head to the airport and home. Night had fallen and the moon was full, shining in a cloudless sky, and it caused Alex to peek out of his bunk to the one above, which was Jack's.

“You okay tonight?” Rian and Zack didn't look out from their bunks, having heard this conversation a lot and leaving it be, even though they weren't quite sure what it was about.

“Yeah, but next hotel we see, I'm-” Jack went silent and Alex frowned.

“Ja-” Before he could finish there was a huge groan of metal and the bus turned onto its side, throwing Rian and Zack from their bunks and into Alex's and Jack's.

“Oof!” Alex coughed as Zack landed on him, knocking the breath out of him.

“What the-?”

“You guys okay?” called Jack over their groans.

“What happened?” asked Rian, “Did someone hit our bus?” His question was answered by a metallic screech as something was torn away, causing the bus to shudder. There were thunks near the front of the bus and Alex had a feeling he knew what was going on.

“Jack!” he shouted, “We've got company! Rian, you'll want to give him some room!”

“Wha- _Oh hell_!” There was some scrambling from the other side and cracks could be heard, cracks that indicated bones breaking or popping out of place. The thumps were getting closer and Alex could now hear panting. He was right and he hated it.

“Alex?!” Rian sounded frightened and Alex could understand why, “What's happening to Jack?!”

“I'll tell you later!” There came a deep growl as claws appeared over the side of Alex's bunk. Both the singer and the bassist looked up to see a wolf peek over the side of it, joined by another. One was blond, the other a tan color, and both had green eyes and angry expressions. Alex put one arm in front of Zack and glared at the wolves. He knew what he was doing, he hoped.

“Fuck off!” he snarled. The wolves didn't back off and growled back. The larger of the two, the tan one, started to reach a paw toward them until it and the blond were thrown away by an even _larger_ dark brown wolf with green eyes wearing familiar torn clothes. It snapped its jaws at them, pierced ears tucked back but not against its head, and briefly glanced down to Alex and Zack.

“The hell-?” Zack began.

“We're fine!” Alex called up, “Teach them a lesson!” The brown wolf gave a nod and jumped away, where more snarls, snaps, and growls could be heard. Alex peeked his head out of the bunk in time to see the brown wolf throw the blond one against the wall, causing the metal to buckle under the hit. It groaned as the tan wolf leapt at the brown one, aiming for the throat, but the brown one was faster and grabbed it at the throat. It grabbed the other one by a forearm and began taking them towards the front of the bus on its back legs. Alex looked back to see that Rian and Zack had now joined them, looking frightened and shocked. Alex sighed.

“Look, you two might want to take shelter in the bunks until the bus gets righted, then I'll explain everything.”

“Like how our best friend just turned into a _fucking wolf_?” Rian spoke.

“What?” Zack turned to him, then looked to Alex, “You know what's going on, don't you?” His voice was shaking, but Alex heard the question as plain as day. He knew this day would come and he gave a nod. Suddenly there were metallic groans as the bus moved and was tugged onto its belly, and then there was some commotion from the front before the bus managed to start and took off with a screech of its wheels. Wind blew in from the torn-off door as the rest of ATL got out of the bunks and went up to the front, where they found Jack driving. He was wearing the same torn clothes as the dark brown wolf, which had originally the ones he had worn for the concert.

“You guys okay?” he asked in a worried tone, “None of you got bit or scratched?”

“No, but what the hell just happened?” The bassist and the drummer were pale as they tightly held the back of the driver's chair, feeling that they had just faced Death. Which, in a way, they certainly had. Jack shared a look with Alex in the rear-view mirror, but before either could speak, Alex's phone rang.

“Hello? Hey, dude.” Alex listened and nodded along, “Yeah, but thing is, we just got attacked too...No, everyone's fine, Jack saved us...Yeah, I was thinking of meeting up with you anyway. Where are you?..Okay, we'll be there in a few hours, overnight flight and whatnot. Also, try to convince Ronnie to get us a new bus...I don't care if he says no, werewolves attacked us and do you have any idea how much this bus cost us? Look, we'll pay for some of the damages if he covers the rest...Thanks. See you.” Alex added a small kiss to the end before he ended the call.

“Cody?” Jack asked.

“Yep, and it looks like we're not the only ones attacked.” Alex typed away on his phone, “I'm getting us tickets for the first flight to New Jersey.”

“What about _what just happened_?” Zack stressed, “Apparently Jack can turn into a wolf and Alex knows all about it?!”

“Werewolf, really, but yeah.” Jack admitted, “You guys know when Cody and Alex hooked up? Well, Cody's a werewolf too, and since Alex was falling head-over-heels for him, Cody decided to share the secret.” Alex hit him in the shoulder and he grinned, “Hey now, don't hit the driver!”

“Oh shut up.” Alex said, but he was smiling too, “So yeah, I know about werewolves. We didn't want to share it with you guys because there really wasn't a reason to and we didn't want to worry you.”

“So, why aren't you still a wolf? Doesn't the full moon force you guys to change?” Zack and Rian were taking the reveal better than Alex and Jack had thought they would, now that the initial shock was over.

“Only to turned werewolves and those inexperienced with their wolves.” Jack explained, “And I don't mind the cold, but we could get pulled over for not having a door, so do you guys mind covering it up somehow?” The three humans looked over, having forgotten there was no door on the bus anymore, and set straight to work. Once it was covered by a mattress and some blankets, Jack continued, “The wolf is separate from me, he's got a mind of his own, but if I'm going to be sane and not fearful all the time, he and I have got to be on a good relationship with one another. If I'm not, then the moon makes me wolf out. As it is, I've got to change at least three times a month so that he doesn't get cranky and I've already done two of those, once while protecting you guys and another time at our last hotel.”

“So what you guys keep talking about sometimes, that's about your changes?” Rian asked, “The 'You okay tonight?' thing?”

“That's right.” Alex agreed, “And this is just the tip of the iceberg. You guys have to promise not to tell anyone about this, otherwise Jack and Cody are gonna be in _a lot_ of trouble.” The two ATL members shared a look, then nodded.

“Sure, dude, you didn't have to ask.” Rian and Zack smiled, “Your secret's safe with us. What else is there?”

“Well...” As the bus continued down the road, somehow still running, Alex and Jack took turns explaining things to their friends about werewolves, where jokes made about werewolf sex make Alex go red and chase Rian and Zack down the length of the bus while Jack laughs. But, back in the parking lot, two girls were there, recovering from some head injures and scrapes. One of them, the one with tan-colored hair, held a walkie-talkie to her mouth.

“They're going.” she gave a pain-filled smile, “ATL's taken the bait.”

* * *

“God, I thought I'd lost you and it was so terrifying...”

“Well, you're crushing me, so that mean's I'm okay, right?” Mikey squeaked, unable to breathe.

“Oh, sorry.” Gerard let go and looked up at him with sorrowful eyes. He had been hugging Mikey for several minutes before he had spoken a word, and their friends were around them.

“Did the nightmare really spook you that much?” Bob asked.

“Yeah.” Gerard nodded, “He's my little brother. If anything ever happened to him...” he shook his head, “I'd never forgive myself, especially if I was the one who did it.”

“It was just a nightmare.” Mikey assured him, “Nothing's going to happen to me. This isn't-” He closed his eyes and steeled himself for the words he was about to utter, “This isn't the Paramour, Gee.”

“Then why am I dreaming of you dying again?” Gerard shook his head again, “I don't like this, Patrick said I should have seen what my wolf did, not dream of tearing my brother to pieces. And why was _I_ the one who got cursed? I mean, out of all of us, I'm glad it was me instead of any of you, but why did we even get attacked in the first place?”

“You're right, there's something to this, but how are we supposed to help if Patrick, Ronnie, and Cody won't let us?” Ray wondered.

“We do it ourselves.” Frank proclaimed, “We go behind their backs and do what we can. They can't stop us if they don't know we're doing it, can they?”

“He's got a point.” Bob said, “But where do we start? At the campsite?”

“No, Patrick might have already checked there.” Mikey said, “Probably nothing left to search after we ran out of there. Besides, it's been a week since then. What would we hope to find that the other wolves haven't found yet?”

“Something to do with the guy who did this to me.” Gerard admonished, “I'm going to be stuck for the rest of my life as a werewolf, I won't be able to live normally ever again. I'm going to find that bastard and kick his ass into next year when I do.” Gerard gave a low growl and his eyes flashed briefly, causing most of his band to back away from him slightly with the exception of Frank, who didn't seem to be affected by his wolfish anger. He either didn't notice or didn't care about the move as he continued, “And it's also my job to stop him before something worse happens. If I don't stop him, who knows if he'll go after someone else, too? Even though he didn't attack you guys that first time, who's to say he won't next time? We have to find him and stop him before things escalate, even if it means we have to go behind the other wolves' backs to do it.” Gerard glanced at all his friends and held out a hand, “Are you guys in? I'd rather do this alone, but I know I won't be successful that way.”

“Hell yeah.”

“Fuckin' ready.”

“You can count me in.”

“Why do I feel like we've just made the worst mistake ever?” But Bob was smiling as he said it, and everyone had put their hands with Gerard's, causing the singer to smile, yet also worry. He was a monster and would try to rein himself in, but he would be as much of a danger to his friends as the werewolf they were hunting down was, so could he really do this? Could he really ask his friends to put their lives on the line to help him get his revenge? From the way they had agreed, it seemed it was a yes.

“The first step we should do is probably prepare ourselves for another attack.” Ray spoke, “Anyone got an idea if there's a weapons shop in town?”

“I think I saw one.” Frank said, “I can take Mikey with me to get what we need.”

“I'm going to look for the other wolves and get them to help me control this.” Gerard turned to Ray, “You and Bob work together and see if you can find anything on the Internet, even in the libraries if you have to. I want all of us to learn more about werewolves so that we can be prepared.” Gerard felt like a leader, but the last sentence plagued him with a strange thought that he wasn't sure he wanted to think about.

 _But what are we preparing for? Is it just going to be a fight or are we getting ourselves into a war? And if push comes to shove, will they be able to defend against_ me _?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. ATL is All Time Low, ETF is Escape the Fate, and Ortiz is Robert Ortiz, the only original member left.
> 
> 2\. The Ryan that was attacked and the Ryan taking Ronnie's calls are two different Ryans.
> 
> 3\. Vampires have hypnotic abilities that can range from suggestion to complete control over a person.
> 
> 4\. When FIR's Coming Home was released, apparently Ryan Seaman and Dallon Weekes created a band together named I Don't Know How But They Found Me. And Dallon officially left Panic! at the end of 2017, which is why he's with Ryan.
> 
> 5\. There's an already established love dynamic between Cody, Alex, and Jack in the story that's going to be more elaborated on as it continues.
> 
> 6\. The chapter title is also the title of an ATL song.
> 
> I hope everyone's in character, that there aren't any errors, and that continuity is still on course. If any of these things aren't right, tell me and I'll fix them. And if there's something you want to know about a certain part in the story, point it out and I'll add it in with the ANs.


	5. Shine Like Shark Teeth

_“1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4...” Jacky whispered as he strummed his guitar, trying to come up with a new beat. Cry Venom was trying to make a new song and he needed to come up with a good guitar beat to go with it, but things just didn't seem to want to some together. It was frustrating, to say the least, but he almost didn't hear the sound while he was strumming. He stopped for a second and listened, hearing the sound of the window opening upstairs. He gripped his guitar tightly and stood, unplugging it from the speaker. He hadn't to damage it, but it was the only thing he had on hand that he could use. Burglars weren't going to get far if they thought they could rob him. He adjusted his guitar so that it was on his back as he quietly left the room and headed to the upstairs part of his house, where the window had been opened. He had just reached the hall at the top of the stairs when a door opened and a wolf stepped out. They paused, meeting each other's eyes, and Jacky only had just enough time to bring his guitar forward to block the wolf as it jumped at him._

_The guitar crumpled under the bite as Jacky jumped back. The tight strings snapped and lashed against the wolf's face, making it cry out in pain as it bled from the cuts across its snout. It shook it's head with a snarl before going after Jacky again as he fled down the stairs. The guitarist fled to the kitchen, then stopped when he heard nothing behind him. He turned to see no more wolf and wondered if it was his imagination. Grabbing a rolling pin, he ventured back up the stairs. There was nothing there except for his broken guitar, a few spots of blood on the carpet, and words carved into the hallway wall._

_RONNIE WILL DIE_

_SO WILL YOU, VINCENT_

* * *

Jacky jumped awake from the nightmare and looked around, panting. He was on the airplane, Ryan and Dallon were asleep beside him, he had the window seat. He sighed and leaned back, feeling more tired than ever. It had been a warning, he knew that much, but he didn't know what Ronnie had to do with it. That was why he had fled to Falling in Reverse, to find Ronnie and get away from what had happened. But Ronnie wasn't there, he'd left on his own mysterious trip, but at least Jacky wasn't crazy. No, Christian and Ryan were there with Dallon and they all had similar stories, though Ryan's attacker had been more violent and had scratched Dallon. The long marks on the bigger man's arm showed that no, this wasn't a coordinated joke, this was _real_. And that was why they were now heading to Colesville, to meet up with Ronnie and learn the truth of what was going on. Also, all of them were ready to hurt Ronnie if they didn't believe him (or even if they did), because this was just so _out there_.

Wolves didn't break into houses. Wolves didn't write on walls and threatened someone with those words. Wolves didn't have claws as big as a bear's that could rip your arm off. Wolves weren't as big as bears and didn't look like they were silently judging you for how you looked (at least, that's how Jacky felt with his wolf). Something was very wrong here, and they all hoped Ronnie could explain it. He seemed to know more about wolves than they did, he even had a song about it! _Raised By Wolves_ , wasn't it? _'_ _Don't be fooled I was raised by the wolves; now the moon hangs in full, so you know I won't play by the rules..._ _'_ that was how some of the lyrics went. Jacky had been there for the album, after all, he knew this, but the song had been plaguing him since the event. What was it about _Raised By Wolves_ that seemed to relate to this besides the wolf theme? The song was, for Ronnie, another shot at his old band that told him he was better off without them, so many songs were, but this one and _Tragic Magic_ seemed to be much more to the singer. Maybe they held some sort of secrets that the band hadn't realized before? It was a long shot, but possible.

Jacky sighed, rubbing his forehead for the appearing headache. He was thinking too much, Ronnie could answer all of this once they found him. But then why couldn't he stop? The songs bothered him and he sure as hell wasn't about to go back to sleep after those nightmares, so he resolved to look out the plane window and focus what was going on outside to try and get his mind off of things. But, unknown to him, someone was watching from a few seats away...

* * *

“Need something?” Ronnie looked up from where he'd been sitting against the wall, trying to calm himself down. Above him was Patrick while Cody was nowhere to be seen, possibly getting some sleep himself.

“Something for a stress-induced headache, yeah,” Patrick nodded and took a small bottle out of his pocket and handed it to Ronnie. It looked like a pill bottle but as it moved, the insides swished like liquid.

“Some ginger ale for your nerves. Not much, but it's just a portable bottle.” Patrick sat beside him as Ronnie downed the bottle in one shot. He winced at the headache, but hopefully it would go away soon, “Do you think this is the right way to go about this, bringing everyone into one place?” Ronnie raised an eyebrow.

“You think this might be a trap?” Patrick nodded again.

“Yeah, because even though they'd hurt us if they turned or killed our friends, they _didn't_ , and it's bothering me. Everyone's getting guided here, to this small town in New Jersey, for a reason we don't know yet that could be just as well a giant trap. I mean, even though this is their home state, even MCR doesn't know much about this town.” the FOB singer gave a sigh, “Even my wolf feels that there's something wrong, that we should get out of this place. We're all blind here and we could get hurt or worse.”

“I know, but think of what else could happen if we _did_ leave.” Ronnie said, “Who knows what these guys are capable of? They could guide us right back here or take more measures to make sure we come back. We might not have our friends after we leave, you know. In a way, I think Gerard wasn't just a way to challenge me, but also a warning. We don't do as they say, worse could happen.”

“So we're just going to let them lead us on and hope we don't die?”

“Not quite.” Ronnie smiled with his teeth showing, not quite a grin, and they all seemed to have a sudden sharpness to them, “Who's to say we can't do anything while we stay in town? That's our loophole, if they haven't thought of it yet.” Patrick smiled back.

“Maybe. I'm thinking of asking our vampire friends to come, just in case, even though this might be a trap. If they have vampires on their side, why shouldn't we?”

“Good thinking, but make sure to warn them all the same, whether they come or not, because they might get targeted too.” Ronnie leaned his head back and closed his eyes and the headache finally started to ease off.

“Got it, and have a good rest.”

“You too.” Ronnie didn't see Patrick get up and leave with the phone in his hand, but he could imagine it with the smells and the sounds he absorbed around him.

* * *

Billie watched the sky as night fell and he smiled. He wondered if his dad was looking down on him, wondering how he was doing. It hurt, not being able to tell his friends what he really was, but at least he had them. And, hearing the werewolves howl at the full moon, he grinned, showing his sharp fangs. It would be nice to hunt, but he knew the rules. Might as well have a night out on the town while Tré and Mike were sleeping, though. So, with a swift movement, he swung himself over the railing of the balcony and landed 5 floors below without a scratch.

Being a vampire had its perks. He knew this well as he dusted himself off and tugged his jacket close before going on his walk. Europe was cold this time of year, especially London, but at least he didn't have to worry about jet-lag, unlike his bandmates. Another perk of being a vamp, or at least a born one. As he walked, he took a deep breath and a lot of smells assaulted his nose, but he filtered them out easily, which came with practice. He kept an eye on the smell of the werewolves and other vampires, just in case things happened, but enjoyed the crisp smell of winter as well. He grinned and his smile seemed perfect with the exception of his larger-than-normal canines, but no one wants to look too closely at a mouth, do they? The only bad thing was that any supernatural could tell he was a vamp because the smell of blood was always on him. The wolves had it better, being able to switch forms and cover up their musk, but not vampires.

At first, he almost didn't hear the muffled sound, it was so far away. But the quietness of the night coupled with his sharp hearing managed to catch it, a small 'mmph!' from behind him. He caught the small movement at the edge of his vision and knew something was going on, so he turned around and stuck to the shadows as he made his way back down the street at a silent run. He got to the alley where he had seen the movement and he smelled the sharpness of dog musk and fresh-brewed coffee, which almost masked over the softer smell of grass and facepaint. But Billie felt fear because he _knew_ those scents, they belonged to his friends. He could see them now, as clear as day with his nocturnal vision, forced against the wall by two men who smelled distinctly of blood, they had to have been other vampires.

“Hey!” he snarled, letting his fangs grow longer to show dominance, “Leave them alone!” He was ready to get into a fight if need be, but hoped not too. He didn't want to tell his friends the truth in this way. And how did he not know they were following him? Had they seen him 'leave' and rush out to find him? If so, they probably already knew something was up and wanted answers. Either way, he couldn't let them get hurt or worse.

“You wanna fight, old man?” goaded one. Both were smiling, fairly young, and must have felt cocky because their fangs weren't elongated like his. They felt that they were superior, that they had the upper hand against him. But Billie knew they didn't have experience if they were this cocky, and that was his advantage.

“I'll fight if you don't let them go. But if we fucking do, I'll kick your asses into next week.” he said, and he could see his friends' eyes, wide and fearful for him, but he ignored it.

“Try it, then.”

“You first.” Billie goaded. That caused the two to pause, glancing between him and his bandmates. They were smart for pausing, at least, because if they let Mike and Tré go, then it would be three-against-two, even though the bassist and drummer were only human. And the reason the two weren't fighting now was because one of the vamps was holding a knife to Mike's neck.

“No, elders first.” The vamp not holding the knife swept out his free hand, the other arm locked around Tré's neck.

“Billie, don't-!” The drummer was quieted as the young vampire covered his mouth again. The vamp had to be stronger than he looked if he could hold Tré back, since the human had a drummer's strength, but then again, all vampires were pretty strong. The young vampire's head inched a little closer to Tré's neck and Billie knew he had to do something before things got worse.

“What do you even want?” Billie asked, “Why us?”

“We were given a job.” said the knife-wielding one, “That's all you need to know, Mr. Armstrong.” So they knew who he was. This wasn't out of nowhere, someone had deliberately planned this attack on the band, possibly directed against Billie himself.

“Then if you know who I am,” he raised a hand to brush against his fangs, checking their sharpness, “you know that I'm not a pushover. Let them go and this won't get bloody.”

“Oh, but we certainly want it to be that way. C'mon old man, quit stalling and fight us if you're so brave.” Billie grit his teeth and let loose a growl. They wanted him to fight? Oh, he would give them a fight, just as long as his friends were out of the crossfire. Both vampires were too close to Mike and Tré for him to really do anything, he had to make them leave his friends alone somehow.

“I have a better idea.” Billie smiled darkly, “We fight somewhere else, the two of you against me without worry of getting ganged-up on.”

“Dude, we're not _that_ dumb. We know we have the advantage, we're not gonna lose it.” The knife was pressed closer to Mike's neck, “I'd really like to see what happens if we hurt your friends.” Billie growled and knew that if blood was spilled, he might not be able to control himself. He didn't want to hurt his friends, but if instincts took over, he wouldn't have much of a choice. Suddenly, something occurred to him as he looked over to the side, something that could help him save his friends. Moving quickly, he hit the wall, causing it to crack and shake slightly. Despite the pain that shot up his arm, he fire escape from above was jostled loose and fell down onto the vamps. They hissed and lost their grip on Tré and Mike as they jumped away, not wanting to get hit. Despite vampire indestructibility, it was instinct to duck out of the way of something. Plus, the ladder banging their heads would hurt like hell.

“Run!” Billie yelled to his friends as he rushed to grapple with the vamp still holding the knife. A fresh scent hit his nose, the scent of the metal knife mixed with a scent that stirred a deep hunger in him: Blood. He could already feel himself trying to lose control, to find out where the blood had come from. Some of it was on the edge of the knife and he knew that meant Mike had been cut, hopefully not too badly, but it was making him go crazy. He saw the other vampire's eyes change from a bright blue to a deep red and knew that his own had probably changed to a similar color. He was in hunting mode, but he had control over it, he had to have control, he couldn't let his friends get hurt.

Suddenly a tight grip and claws latched onto his arm and tried to pull it away to allow the first vamp to attack him, but Billie grabbed the wrist with his other hand and threw the vampire into the other one, causing them to tumble down together. He held them down by their necks as they hissed, their eyes wide and red, consumed with bloodlust. To his surprise, he could feel marks on their neck, bite marks, and it made him wonder if they had been lying when they said they had been sent to deal with him. Were these just two vamps who wanted a quick snack and didn't care about the consequences? To end this, he brought their heads forward before smashing them against the concrete, possibly with more force than necessary, but it knocked the two out. Panting, Billie brought a hand to his nose to close it and stop the smell of blood, looking behind him to see his friends.

Both Mike and Tré looked terrified of him (the scent of fear was strong in the air), Mike holding a sleeve to the shallow cut, trying to get it to stop bleeding. The though made Billie's stomach growl, wanting that blood, but he kept himself under control. He saw them flinch away when they saw his red eyes and he willed them to go back to their normal green.

“We need to go.” he spoke at last, “They'll wake up soon enough, we can't stay here.” His voice sounded weird because of his closed nose and probably would have been funny if it weren't for the circumstances. He got up and walked forward, but his friends moved away from him. He frowned but understood their fear, of course they would hate him because they never knew of his secret. He wish it didn't have to come out like this, though.

“Please,” he asked, “I know you're scared of me, but they're the bigger danger here. You both know I'd never hurt you, right?” He hoped his voice wasn't shaking and that they would listen to him. He didn't want to, but if he had to, he would drag them away, as long as it meant they would be safe.

“...How can we trust you if you're never told us about this?” Mike asked and Billie knew he was right.

“I can explain once we're safe.” Billie smiled, but it was marred by his still-long fangs jutting out over his bottom lip. And this time when he walked forward, they didn't step away. He let go of his nose to sniff the air, trying to catch the scents of other supernaturals just in case there were more involved in the ambush, and tried not to linger on Mike's blood. It was hard to keep himself under control with such yummy blood so close to him, but he wasn't going to act on those instincts. He couldn't, Mike was his friend, he couldn't and wouldn't hurt him. He led them through London's streets, trying to avoid other vamps and wolves, and felt like the guide character in a fantasy novel to the main characters. It nearly made him laugh, but he couldn't spook his bandmates more than they already were, so he didn't. They went back to the hotel if only to get their stuff (because Billie was pretty sure it wasn't safe there anymore) and for him to explain.

Billie tried to breathe in the scents of the room, trying to drown out the blood scent with air fresheners, but it wasn't working and the vampire in him was getting a bit mad at being denied blood. When the shuffling in the room had stopped, Billie covered his nose and turned to his friends, who had finished packing and were now looking at him expectantly. Mike now had a bandage over the cut as well, making breathing the air more bearable. He sighed, but began to speak.

“I bet you can guess what I am if you saw me 'leave.'” Billie began, “I'm not a normal guy, I've never been, and it's not just because of who I am. I'm a vampire, and I was born this way. There are also other supernaturals out there, as tonight showed. And I'm sorry.” Billie wanted to grimace but kept his mouth shut, he didn't want to spook them more even though his fangs were now back to normal, "I never wanted to _not_ tell you guys, but like the werewolves, the vampires have rules."

“You never thought about going your own way, like you've done in the band?” Mike asked, “I've known you for a long time and I never knew about this.” Tré said nothing, his arms crossed as he and Mike stared at Billie, wanting to know _why the fuck_ the singer never told them this.

“You were given enough hints.” Billie said and couldn't keep the soft smile off his face as he thought back, “Didn't you ever wonder why I wasn't at school some days when you _knew_ I wasn't sick? Didn't you know why I didn't invite you to my house much? _I didn't want to hurt you_.”

“And _not_ telling us is helping us?” Tré asked, “Because that sounds like a pretty shitty reason in itself.”

“I know, but like I said before, vampires have rules. I'm not supposed to tell you they exist, even if you are my best friends, but after what happened tonight, I knew I couldn't any longer. Now, we've got to get going. They're probably awake by now and might know where we were staying. We need to leave.”

“Which means we're canceling the tour.” Mike stated. Billie nodded.

“We don't have a choice.”

“But if they know where we are, then where can we go?” Tré asked. Billie wasn't sure about that, but they were interrupted by the ringing phone. It was Billie's phone and he answered it without a though to who might be calling.

“Hello? Patrick?” Mike and Tré shared a glance as Billie continued talking, “Yeah, we're fine, but things are fucked up, y'know?..Wait, it's happened to you too?..Yeah, we need a place to go anyways, but don't you think it might be a bad idea?..Alright, we'll be there. I hope that things won't end badly. Bye.”

“Was that-?”

“Patrick Stump? Yep. He's in the same boat as I am, with the whole 'supernatural secret' thing. And it looks like we're not the only ones who got attacked.”

“So we're going to go see them?” Mike asked.

“In New Jersey. You two up for it?” Mike and Tré looked to one another before nodding.

“It's gonna take a while before you earn our trust back after all this,” Tré spoke, “but you're trying to keep us safe. So yeah, we're up for it.” Billie frowned, but nodded. He knew that his mistake would be costly, but he was willing to pay dearly for it if it meant his friends, his _brothers_ , would trust him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. New Jersey and London have a 5 hour time difference. In the story when it's in London, it's 6 PM, making it 1 PM in NJ.
> 
> 2\. Cry Venom is the band Jacky joined after leaving FIR.
> 
> 3\. The title of the chapter is a lyric from FOB's Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet.
> 
> Sorry it's been so long, but I've been preoccupied with ANOTHER bandom story I want to write. But I'm not going to work on it until either this story or TDGYNT is finished, because it's looking to be a pretty big story if I start writing.
> 
> As it is, I hope everyone is in character and that there are no mistakes. If there are, point them out and I will try and fix it. And as of this chapter, Green Day is officially going to join this story, so I hope I'm keeping them in character.


End file.
